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I cannot believe it, but the summer is sadly winding down. I recently invited a few friends of mine over and we had a whole day of what summer is really about: sunshine, being outside (of course in a pool) and making memories!

In 10 days I head back to my second home, Kent State, for the next four months, which is why I have decided to make the most of my time while still at home.

Most of my plans for the rest of the summer consist of spending a lot of time in my pool, but I also have plans to see as many of my friends from home as possible because I don’t get to see them often.

I am also planning on going up to Baltimore this weekend with one of my best friends, Jake, my sister, Payton and my mom to a peach festival! I do not really know what this peach festival entails… but I am hoping there will be some awesome peach cobblers and homemade ice cream!

It is so important for college students to have some relaxation time during the summer because we know as soon as we get back to school, it is time to hit the books again. I cannot even begin to think about the group projects that are ahead me this semester!

Annapolis, Baltimore and D.C. have so much to offer in the sweet summer time. I live so close to Annapolis, and go everyday, so I have decided in my final week at home, there is one thing in D.C. I want to do and one thing in Baltimore I want to do before I head back to Kent.

In D.C. I want to head down to Georgetown to shop and then grab dinner in Dupont Circle at my favorite restaurant called Mission. And in Baltimore I want to go with my mom to this awesome place my mom showed me on Instagram, Graffiti Alley.

Although I definitely enjoyed the majority of my summer in NYC , I could not ask for more for the end of my summer in Annapolis.

I cannot believe it, but my NYC summer experience has come to an end. Unbelievable, right?

New York City became my home this summer and I feel like I legitimately left a piece of my heart there. When I first arrived in the city, I kept saying “I think I am going to have a great summer but I definitely do not see myself here after graduation.” WELL, I WAS WRONG. This summer my heart grew fonder as the days went on.

From learning the subway to mastering the different areas of Manhattan, to becoming closer with girls in the classes and internship to discovering so many amazing restaurants, my summer in NYC is one I will never forget.

I lived in the Upper West Side, which I always compared to the suburbs of the city. My internship was in the Flatiron District and my classes were in Midtown. I loved my classes and I definitely learned a lot of about myself and what I want out of my future at my internship.

I interned at a fashion PR firm, which was definitely an experience I always dreamed about. For the past three years I have said my dream was to work in fashion PR, but after interning in a fashion PR firm, I learned that I LIKE fashion PR, but I don’t LOVE it. I am so grateful for the experience I had at the agency I interned for. I was able to work at both New York Men’s Day (the opening event for NYFW) and at New York Men’s Fashion Week.

This summer was amazing, and I think one of my absolute favorite things was getting to try all the different trendy foods that were all over Facebook and the internet this summer. For example, Frosé, the roll-up ice cream and I went to the bakery , Union Fare, which sells the rainbow croissants, but they were sold out by the time I got there so I tried their cookies and cream croissant, which was just as fabulous!

Exploring was also amazing. You would think in the eight weeks I was there, I would have been able to do everything I wanted to, but I didn’t. If I did not have class or my internship, I probably could have, but I know that I will definitely have to do the things I wanted to do this summer first as soon as I am back in the city!

Another thing I loved about being in NYC, everyone wants to come and visit! My sister, Payton and best friend, Amanda came twice, my friend Mary came with Payton and Amanda on their second trip and my friend Erin came up for a weekend trip. The FUNNIEST thing was Erin and I sleeping in my twin sized bed in my dorm room, haha!

During my friend’s visits we explored all around Manhattan and went to Brooklyn! In Brooklyn, we adventured in Williamsburg and DUMBO, which is in the picture below.

DUMBO: Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass

Dumbo was gorgeous! The architecture, the view of the Manhattan Skyline and the view of the Brooklyn bridge are out of this world. The area is located right in the middle of the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge.

This summer also included going to Her Conference. Her Conference is a conference hosted by Her Campus, an online magazine for women in college. I am a writer for Her Campus Kent State and I am also in their blogging network! They hosted a kick-off event, hosted by Rebecca Minkoff. I attended the event and had the chance to meet her. I fan-girled so hard! She was so sweet and even signed the inside of the bag I purchased that evening.

I cannot believe all of the things I did within these past eight weeks. These were just a few highlights from my summer. I truly cannot believe this summer is almost over. Summer 2016 is definitely my favorite summer yet!

I cannot believe that I am 21 years old! I have been 21 for a month and a half and I have really thought a lot about 21 things about me that my readers may not not know about me!

But first I want to talk about what I did for my 21st birthday! I was able to celebrate two times, once with my friends at school and then another with my family and my friends in Maryland.

With my friends from school:

My friends set up a “Bar Appearance”in downtown as we called it because I was really nervous about making it a bar crawl. I did not really want to go to a ton of bars, so we chose the two that we through I would really enjoy and stuck to those!

My birthday happened to be the same day as “Fake Patty’s Day” in Kent, Ohio, which is why everyone is wearing green!

With my friends in Maryland:

My sister set up an amazing birthday celebration! She set up a party bus for me and my friends to ride from Annapolis into D.C. for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants called Mission. It has amazing Mexican food. It was great because I not only got to see my great friends from Maryland, I also got to see my best friend, Jake, who I know from Kent State. The party bus was SO fun and dinner was great.

I would definitely say that I had two amazing birthday celebrations.

21 things about myself that you may have been wondering:

I currently have two torn ACLs in my knee.

I will be taking classes in NYC this summer for my minor, along with interning at Agentry PR firm!

I love to travel. My favorite place I have been to is Madrid, Spain.

I LOVE the color yellow. A lot of people ask me all the time why my whole blog is not yellow, because I love it that much.

I am obsessed with psychics.

I take my zodiac sign seriously, like really seriously.

I am pisces.

I cry all the time, no matter if it’s a happy or sad cry.

I have a cat name Angel. She is the cutest.

I think everyone should go to therapy, it’s helped me a lot.

I have anxiety.

Thrifting is a huge stress reliever for me, but I haven’t gone in a few weeks because I have been so busy with classes.

I am a public relations major.

I am double minoring in fashion media writing and marketing.

I LOVE Kate Spade.

Coffee will always be running from my veins.

I am extroverted.

I always try to be positive, even if everything is falling apart.

I have one younger sister, named Payton.

I talk to my mom at least 3 times a day, and I would’t have it any other way. (I talk to my dad, too! don’t worry! 🙂 )

I decided to start blogging because of Beautycon, a convention for all lovers of beauty, social media and gurus!

I hope this gives you a little more insight of who I am! I would love to get to know each and everyone of you!

So, I am currently taking a class called Online Tactics. Within the class I have been tasked with creating an online portfolio to showcase my work that I am doing in school to show my future internships and hopefully one day….a job!

An online portfolio is definitely something to consider for yourself, but you may not need one if your major is not something that requires any samples, but in PR I will definitely need one!

If an online portfolio sounds like something that might interest you, keep reading to see if this is something that could benefit you:

I made mine on Weebly. It was easier to make a quick online portfolio on rather than WordPress, even though WordPress will forever have my heart for any blogging needs that I have!

I went with a very basic theme so it was very easy to understand and was straightforward!

Something that I do not LOVE about Weebly is that it is not extremely customizable. I was hoping to brand myself a bit more with Defining Danie’s colors and fonts, but I had to go with something that was just close to it.

I kept my personality into my online portfolio but of course stayed professional!

One thing that I do LOVE about Weebly is they have a very easy-to-use set up for the pages. For me to upload my resume, it was very simple.

Where it is circled pink, I dragged that element on to my actual Resume page of my online portfolio.

All I had to do was drag the element “Document” onto the page and then it let me upload any style of document I wanted, and then it uploaded into a Scribd document, so someone could scroll through and read my resume!

The third page that I have on my online portfolio is my section with my writing samples! This part took me a little while to figure out how I wanted it to look. I changed the style about three times.

I finally figured out the best way to show some of my writing samples…I did it in a slideshow where you can preview the story/article I have written and then click on it if you want to read the rest of it. I linked each photo to go to the page where the story is located!

And finally, my Defining Danie lovers… I have a Blog Portfolio! I love writing this blog so I definitely wanted to include some of my favorite posts to showcase my writing skills.

For my blogging portfolio, I made it look like a mosaic of photos where you can click any of the photos and have them take you directly to the link of the blog post! I thought it was a creative way of putting the posts on here rather than having just clippings of the articles.

This online portfolio is definitely a necessary thing to have if you are looking to go into public relations or any other field of work where your writing MATTERS.

I have been meaning to create one for a long time now, so having it as a project for class was just a way to give me a “kick in the butt” to get it done!

I hope this inspires you to showcase your own writing. If you create one, please share it with me because I would love to read yours!

It’s most definitely getting my hair washed and blow dried once a week. I really hate washing my own hair for it just look awful after I attempt to blow dry it and then straighten it.

Before you think I am a diva (well TOO much of a diva), it is not as costly as you might be thinking it is! I have found Rush salon in Kent, Ohio that is honestly just PERFECT.

I used to go and get my hair washed and blow dried before a big event, but this school year I started doing this on the first day of the school year. I called two weeks before school started and told them I needed their first appointment that day because I didn’t want to stress about my hair the first day of school, plus I wanted to look great after coming back from the summer!

HOW DO THEY MAKE MY HAIR FEEL SO SOFT AND LUSCIOUS?

So now you may be asking yourself…”Does Danie only wash her hair once a week?” and to answer this question, yes I do only wash it once a week unless there is a reason that I MUST wash it. I have truly “trained” my hair to not get oily.

I started only washing it once a week when I had red in my hair because each time I would wash it, the red dye would come out and I was getting more annoyed each time I washed my hair. After researching what I would do to slow down the red washing out of my hair, I found out how awful washing your hair too often is actually for you. So even before getting it washed, I only washed it once a week. If learning how to get down to washing your hair once-twice a week, check out my previous post: here.

But to get back to my guilty pleasure… I know it sounds ridiculous, but I honestly crave that hour on Tuesdays (the day I get my hair done!). That time I take for myself and I don’t check my phone or think about anything else that I have going on during that time. I focus on myself, which I do not do a lot. It is a stress reliever for me.

I get a lot of criticism from people who do not agree with my choices about me getting my hair done once a week- and what I want to say to those people is: How I spend my money is my choice, and I appreciate you looking out for my budget, but I will continue to get my hair washed each week.

Trust me…if I could make my hair the way that my favorite stylists, Skye and Allison, make it look, I would do it myself!

To maintain my hair looking good the rest of the week, I wear a shower cap while I shower and I do not put any extra products in my hair the rest of the week.

The only time I really touch my hair is when I straighten a few pieces that may have gotten curly throughout the week and when I pull my hair in my favorite hairstyle, the half up half down style!

I know all of you divas out there will feel my pain out there! I know that not everyone’s budget each week can fit $18 for you to get your hair washed, but definitely think about cutting down on how many times a week you wash your hair!

I am waiting for my first class to start at 11:00 a.m., and I thought what better way to wait then to write about how I cannot wait for my day to begin! This school year is going to be challenging, fun and different.

I have already been back in Kent, Oh. for a week now. I’ve been setting up my apartment, going to sorority recruitment workshops and finally catching up with friends, who I haven’t seen in four months. This week has honestly been jam-packed with exciting stuff, but I am so ready for classes to begin!

Classes I am taking this semester:

Fashion Fundamentals (For my fashion media writing minor)

Fashion Branding (For my fashion media writing minor)

Research & Measurement in Ad and PR

Reporting

PR Publications

Vision Design Literacy

…I am taking 18 credit hours. I’ve done it before, and I am hoping I can do it again. It is going to be tough because I am also involved in several organizations!

I have decided to update my blog once a week with different tips and updates on how I am keeping organized throughout my semester! I know it is going to be a tough year ahead of me, but I know I can do it and so can you!

Yes, you read that correct It is National Thrift Store Day! To any of thrifting queens and kings out there, you understand my excitement. This day can beat any of the major holidays for me. I have never told anyone why I love thrifting so much so I am going to do my Top 5 Reasons Why I LOVE Thrifting and you can also check out my top favorite thrifting finds of the year below!

TOP 5:

1) The amazing deals that you can get. As all of you know, I am a college student and as a college student, I do not have a lot of money to spend on clothes! There are great clothes that people just giveaway…hoping that you will buy them! Go when they have 50% off certain color tags, meaning that it will be 50% off of the already low prices!

2) The hunt is FUN. This is something that I have mastered. A lot of people do not like the “hunting” part of thirsting, which is why Goodwill’s across the nation have created Goodwill Boutiques, which are also near and dear to my heart! But… I love it when I am searching around the store and I can’t seem find anything worth buying that day and then all of the sudden that one piece of clothing just POPS out to you! It is seriously magical.

3) I know when I shop at a thrift store, that I am doing good for the community. An example is by shopping at Goodwill, you are helping them succeed at their mission, which is to provide work for people who may not be able to find it somewhere else!

4) You never know what you will find. There are so many odd pieces that you will find in a thrift/consignment store! There will be things in there that you did not even know existed but that is what makes it so fun! I think you can also learn a lot about history. Walking into an older thrift/consignment store and it is like walking into the past! Go in and see what you can find/learn.

5) Great for DIY. Whether you want to revamp your house or you’re moving into a new apartment, there are great deals you can find on furniture, kitchen supplies (plates and even kitchen tables/chairs!) and bedroom furniture. There is nothing a little TLC and some paint cannot fix! I always see great dining room furniture that just makes me so excited to have my first apartment!

Top Thrifting Finds:

I would love to hear everyones reasons why YOU love thrifting! Also, I never noticed I always pose the same way in all of my photos, haha!

So as many of you know that follow me on social media (if you don’t follow your girl @danieminor13!), this past weekend I went to Her Conference!

Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies; going to events is another favorite of mine. This past weekend, I took an Amtrak Train to NYC where the conference was being held. Amtrak allowed me to combine my two favorite things!

Her Conference is a conference put together by the staff at Her Campus. Her Campus is an online magazine for “collegiette” women! Along with being an online magazine, they also have a blogger network, which I’m apart of.

So, when they announced the dates for the conference, which is held in NYC, I immediately purchased a two-day ticket. At the time it didn’t matter to me how I got to NYC, where I was staying or if anyone I knew was also going to the conference that I knew;I knew I was going!

A month before the conference I had the place to stay, but still hadn’t locked down how I was getting to NYC… then Amtrak popped into the equation! Continue reading →

I cannot believe it is already Definingdanie.com’s birthday. This first year of blogging has been unimaginable. Defining Danie has opened so many doors and friendships, that I could not imagine not having anymore. I really would like to thank everyone who has supported me through this first year. Thank you for every share, like and follow!

I have definitely learned so much about blogging and about myself through this year-long journey. I cannot wait to see what is next on my journey of the online world! Who knows? If there is anything new that you would love to see on Defining Danie, you have to let me know!

The number one thing that I think has improved since my first post is my use of exclamation points, haha! (Whoops, I guess that was necessary though…) I think that I was so excited when I first started that I thought that everything just HAD to have one.

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have posted a blog post. I missed you all!

I am nearing the end of my spring break. I had a fun start to my spring break! I went to Canada with my sister and best friend for the weekend, and then we drove back to Maryland for the remainder of the break. We went to Windsor, Ontario. It was absolutely adorable for a weekend.

Yesterday, I went to a new salon and had the best hair cut/color I have ever had! If you are in the Annapolis, Md. area, you must go to see Virginia at Possibilities Salon in Crofton, Md.

Before Hair:

After Hair:

I went BLONDE! I love it so much. I have always wanted to go this light with my hair, but I was too nervous. I can’t imagine having any other hair color now.

About me

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by Defining Danie. I am a 23-year-old who is trying to figure out my life. I am an Annapolis, Md. native who is trying to figure out this thing called life. Follow me through my journeys as I am finding cool places, brands and opportunities that you also need to know about! Find me on social as well to see my most recent updates @Definingdanie.